Japhet Isidro Amador Hernandez (born January 19, 1987), nicknamed "El Gigante de Mulegé", is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

for the

Diablos Rojos del México The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their hom ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He previously played for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB).

Career

Diablos Rojos del Mexico

Amador was born in

Mulegé Mulegé is a city in Mulegé Municipality, Baja California Sur, situated on the Gulf of California. Located on the Gulf of California, the population was 3,821 according to the Mexican census of 2010. History Indigenous peoples had lived in t ...

Baja California Sur Baja California Sur (; 'South Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California Sur), is the least populated state and the 31st admitted state of the 32 federal ent ...

. From 2007 through a portion of the 2013 season, Amador played in the

, last playing for the

. In 2012, he hit 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s through 81 Mexican League games; he hit 17 home runs in 61 games that year during winter baseball in the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

. In 104 games for the Diablos Rojos in 2013, Amador hit .368 with 36 home runs and 121

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI).Japhet Amador Register Statistics & History

Baseball-Reference.com Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

. Retrieved February 25, 2016.

Houston Astros

On August 18, 2013 the Astros signed him and assigned him to the triple-A

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. When the Astros signed him, Amador weighed 330 pounds. He played 10 games for Oklahoma City. The organization then sent him to the

Peoria Javelinas The Peoria Javelinas are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. The Javelinas play their home games in the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility for the Sa ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

. In February 2014, the Astros reported that Amador was in Mexico dealing with a family emergency, that he would not be reporting for the beginning of spring training and that they were not sure whether he would report to the Astros at all. Amador reported to camp a couple of weeks late, and reporter Evan Drellich wrote that Amador's pregnant wife had been ill. Drellich said that Amador had hurt his already low chances of playing first base with the Astros. Amador appeared in seven games with Class AAA Oklahoma City early in the 2014 season.

Second stint with Diablos Rojos del México

By May, he had been returned to the Diablos Rojos on the agreement that he would rejoin the Astros organization when the Mexican League season was finished. He hit 13 home runs that year in 64 games with the Diablos Rojos. In 2015, Amador led the Mexican League in home runs, hitting 41 during the regular season and earning the league's Most Valuable Player award. He hit 14 more home runs during winter baseball in the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On December 24, 2015, Amador signed with the

(NPB) after the 2015 season. On May 25, 2016, Amador made his NPB debut. On November 28, 2016, he signed a 1-year extension to remain with the Eagles. On November 27, 2017, Amador signed a 1-year extension to remain with the Eagles. On August 9, 2018, Amador was suspended for six months after testing positive for the banned substances

chlortalidone Chlortalidone, also known as chlorthalidone, is a thiazide-like diuretic drug used to treat high blood pressure, swelling including that due to heart failure, liver failure, and nephrotic syndrome, diabetes insipidus, and renal tubular acidosi ...

and

furosemide Furosemide is a loop diuretic medication used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease. It may also be used for the treatment of high blood pressure. It can be taken by injection into a vein or by mouth ...

, but he stated that he would appeal the suspension, and claimed that he would never intentionally take any banned drugs. Leading up to his suspension, Amador had a .269 average and 20 home runs in 62 games played for the club. Amador became a free agent after the season.

Third stint with Diablos Rojos del México

In 2019, Amador returned to Mexico to play with the

. He hit .346 with 28 home runs and 115 runs batted in that year. Amador did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Mexican League season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He played for the Charros de Jalisco in the Mexican Pacific Winter League in 2020-21.

International career

Amador was selected for

Mexico national baseball team The Mexico national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de México'') is the baseball team that represents Mexico in international tournaments. It is currently the 4th-ranked baseball team in the world. Roster Results and fixtures ...

at the exhibition games against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 2016 and

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to March 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts ...

. On October 16, 2016, he was selected for exhibition games against Japan in 2016. On February 8, 2017, he was selected for 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Personal

In Mexico, Amador has been given the nickname "El Gigante de Mulegé" (The Giant of Mulegé) due to his 1.93 m height. Only one 300-pound player in baseball history has made the major leagues.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amador, Japhet 1987 births Living people Algodoneros de Guasave players Baseball players from Baja California Sur Baseball players suspended for drug offenses Charros de Jalisco players Diablos Rojos del México players Mexican expatriate baseball players in Japan Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Mexican League baseball first basemen Mexican League Most Valuable Player Award winners Mexican sportspeople in doping cases National baseball team players Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters Nippon Professional Baseball first basemen Oklahoma City RedHawks players People from Mulegé Peoria Javelinas players Petroleros de Minatitlán players Rojos del Águila de Veracruz players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players 2017 World Baseball Classic players